Blizzard Controversially Replaces Hearthstone Mind Blast and Vanish
Blizzard announced a ton of changes today to the overall Hearthstone metagame surrounding decks, classes, and even the Classic card set. These changes will come into play with the release of the upcoming major update that will remove some cards and add some new ones.
One such change is regarding the Hearthstone Mind Blast and Vanish cards, both of which are integral to the Priest and Rogue classes, respectively. However, that hasn’t stopped Blizzard from making the controversial decision to remove both of them from the game and place them in the Hall of Fame.
If you’ve even remotely touched the Priest and Rogue classes, you will already know how important these cards are to the identity of those two classes. Removing them is something that a lot of fans aren’t happy with as it will change how they play the game.
Why These Changes Are Happening
Both cards have been a massive part of the game for years now so suddenly removing them so long after their release isn’t being well received by fans of the game. So, what’s the reason behind removing these two massive cards? Well, it’s because Blizzard is enforcing the idea of class identities.
It is making the necessary changes to give each class a distinct identity that is unique to its own. In investigating and enforcing this, it found that the Hearthstone Mind Blast and Vanish cards are both contrary to the identity that it wants to form for Priest and Rogue.
To fix this, it is removing those two cards and replacing them with ones that Blizzard believes are better suited to that class’ identity. To understand why these two cards don’t fit their classes’ identities, we need to first take a look at what each card does for those who don’t know about them.
Beginning with Hearthstone’s Mind Blast, this card is a Priest spell card. It costs only two mana to use and deals five damage directly to the enemy hero. It’s a simple but effective card that deals a quick burst of damage for a relatively short cost. And it’s become a massive part of the Priest deck collection over the years.
The problem that Blizzard has with the Hearthstone Mind Blast card is that it allows the Priest to deal too much direct damage straight from their hand, which is contrary to their vision for the Priest class. This is being removed to allow for other cards that will emphasize the Priest’s ability to control the field instead of dealing direct damage.
On the other hand, we have the Vanish card that is used by Rogues. This removal isn’t nearly as controversial as Mind Blast but it is still an unfortunate situation nonetheless. For those who aren’t familiar with it, this spell card costs six mana to use and it returns all minions to their owner’s hand.
The issue that Blizzard has with Vanish is that it negates one of the weaknesses that the Rogue class is meant to have under these more rigid class identities: board clears. This card basically allows the Rogue to clear the field even if it does come at the cost of their minions, too.
This is a problem in Blizzard’s eyes, hence, its removal from the game. But, at the very least, it is making up for the loss of these two important cards by introducing replacement cards that function similarly or at least promote each class’ distinct identity in the game.
Hearthstone Mind Blast Replacement and Why It Shouldn’t Happen
The replacement for Hearthstone Mind Blast is called Radiance. This card is a direct replacement for Mind Blast, functioning similarly to it but in an opposite way. It costs only one mana to use, meaning that you could use it right from the start of the match if you’d like or any other time.
Radiance heals you for five health. This spell card is the direct opposite of Mind Blast that deals five damage to the enemy hero instantly. While it is true that the Priest is dedicated to healing so this fits it a little better in that regard, it hasn’t stopped fans from being angry about it.
This backlash is understandable when you take into account the Shadow Priest. The Shadow Priest subclass is meant to be more damage-focused, which makes the removal of this card a massive blow to the players who prefer that playstyle.
It is a situation where it would possibly make more sense to just add Radiance to the game rather than take away the Hearthstone Mind Blast in the process. That is an important spell that carries over to the card from World of Warcraft so it feels like a misstep for Blizzard.
Hearthstone Vanish Replacement and Why It Shouldn’t Happen
On the other hand, the replacement for Vanish is a little less controversial. Its replacement is actually a creature card called Plaguebringer. This creature costs four mana to summon and is a three attack and three health monster. Those are solid stats for the creature already.
Its Battlecry ability is to give a friendly minion Poisonous. That emphasizes the Rogue aspect of using poison and isn’t so bad after all. It does come with the same issue we have with Radiance where it would make more sense to just have both exist.
After all, the Vanish card does come with the caveat of returning the player’s minions to their hand as well as their enemy if they have any minions on the field. That alone fixes much of the problems with the card as it has a risk and reward system to it.
Hearthstone Mind Blast and Vanish Removal Date
Regardless, it does look like Blizzard isn’t changing its mind anytime soon about these major changes. There are other changes, too, that are coming soon like the addition of eight mostly great new cards to the Classic card set that will help alleviate the missing cards from the last couple of years.
You can expect the Hearthstone Mind Blast and Vanish cards to be removed and replaced with the next major update to the game. We don’t know just yet when to expect the new update so be sure to stay tuned right here for the official announcement in the near future.
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